Woman, 33, who attends STRANGERS’ weddings as a ‘seat filler’ reveals what it’s really like – and what she says when unsuspecting guests asks how she knows the bride and groom

A woman who attends strangers’ weddings as a seat filler has revealed what it’s really like – she insists she’s made loads of new friends and always brings a gift.

Joanna Smykowski, a 33-year-old attorney from New York City, joined several Facebook groups for brides-to-be while planning her own wedding in September 2021.

One day she came across a message from a bride asking if someone could attend her wedding to help meet the minimum number of people the venue required.

Otherwise, seats and meals would be lost because the bride and groom would have to pay for the spares anyway, Joanna explained in a Business insider essay.

Joanna (pictured far right) first discovered that some brides needed additional guests to attend their wedding through an upcoming Facebook group

“Luckily for the bride who asked for help on Facebook, I love everything about weddings,” Joanna wrote.

‘I take the opportunity to celebrate love, dance and get dressed for a night out. Attending someone’s wedding is my idea of ​​the perfect evening.’

She discussed the idea with her then-fiancé, and he agreed to go for it.

The couple then drove an hour to attend the strangers’ wedding and also booked a nearby hotel to turn the expedition into an overnight stay.

“The dress code was formal wear, which was even more exciting because I love having a reason to wear a floor-length dress,” Joanna said.

The couple was invited to the cocktail hour and reception, and Joanna was pleasantly surprised to discover that their entire table had come to the wedding under similar circumstances – no one knew the bride and groom personally.

Among the guests, a couple would be getting married at the venue in the future and another had just tied the knot there a few months ago, but had been so busy they hadn’t even tasted the food.

“More than anything, everyone just wanted a fun night out,” Joanna wrote.

The first experience she had (far left) at a stranger’s wedding went so well that Joanna decided to pursue similar opportunities

Joanna has since attended four more strangers’ weddings and claimed that ‘the joy that surrounds weddings energizes me’

She went on to describe how the group became “fast friends” before dancing the night away together.

“There was something liberating about not knowing anyone in the room but coming together for such a heartwarming event,” she admitted.

From there, Joanna joined a Facebook group called ‘sisterhood of the traveling wedding guest, bridesmaid or surrogate mother’ – specifically to connect the missing friends, bridesmaids and even mother figures with those willing to play the role for the bride in question. big day.

Since then, she has attended four more weddings, both with her current husband and sometimes with a girlfriend as her plus one.

‘When someone asks how we know the happy couple, we always say through the bride. I’m leaving out the part about first meeting her at her wedding,” Joanna explained.

“I never know (and don’t ask) if the bride told her family and friends that they invited people they’ve never met,” she pointed out.

Joanna also says that, even though this is not expected of her, she always brings a gift for the bridal couple.

Overall, she emphasizes that the “joy that surrounds weddings energizes me,” and she hopes she can crash consensual weddings for “many years to come.”

“Plus, I will never say no to celebrating love, dancing the night away and having a great night out,” she concluded.